Obama at Georgetown U

President Obama speaks at a Catholic University (Georgetown) and the sky doesn't fall :) You can read his speech (on the economy) at the NY Times here. You can read more about it and see some pics (and watch a video of the event, I think) at the Georgetown site.

And I thought I'd add some of what Thomas Reese SJ had to say about this in the Georgetown/On Faith blog .....

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Prof. Obama Comes to Georgetown

While conservative Catholic pundits were wringing their hands over Notre Dame University's invitation to President Obama to speak at its commencement, their total irrelevance was apparent when the President popped over to Georgetown University to give a major speech on the economy. Protests were minimal and excitement was palpable ....

President Obama gave a substantive talk on the economy. Step by step he took his audience through the causes of the current crisis, what his administration has done so far and what challenges have to be faced in the future. This was prose, not poetry, as he explained at the beginning of his talk. But it was clear and concise prose explaining the situation better than do the shouting heads who claim to present the news ....

Honest and intelligent people can still disagree with him and on some issues they may be right, but Obama has set a standard for serious political discourse that is not simply ideological appeals to the base. He is demanding that his audience stretch their minds and concentrate. It is nice to have a president who is more interested in educating the public than simply pleasing them. Whether we will rise to the challenge remains to be seen.

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